1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand tool for use in connection with extracting bolts from motor vessel shaft couplings. The hand tool for extracting bolts has particular utility in connection with the removal of bound or frozen bolts from motor vessel shaft couplings and related applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hand tools for extracting bolts are desirable for aiding in the removal of bound or frozen bolts. Without a tool, this process can be time consuming and lead to injuries due to the amount of pressure that is applied when one attempts to remove a bound bolt.
The use of pulling tools is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,456,735 to George L. Hunt discloses a gear puller that utilizes a pair of hooks to remove gears or wheels from their shafts or axles. Although the Hunt ""735 patent utilizes a jack screw to produce the required force for gear removal, it does not disclose a device that could be used to remove a bound bolt since there is no room to insert the hooks around the bolt, and has the further drawback of not providing a means to stabilize the device against a shaft during usage, leading to slippage and possible injury.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,043,400 to George A. Collison discloses a wheel puller that could be used to remove wheels, especially automobile wheels, from their axles. However, since the Collison ""400 patent discloses a device that utilizes a pair of hooks to remove the wheels, this device would not be useful in removing bound bolts because there is no space for the hooks to be placed around the bolts. Additionally, the Collison ""400 device does not provide a means to stabilize the device against a shaft during usage, potentially leading to injury during use of the device.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 2,188,074 to Ernest E. Condon discloses a wheel puller that is similar in function and design to both the Hunt ""735 and Collison ""400 patents. Like the Hunt ""735 and Collison ""400 devices, the Condon""074 device does not provide a means for removing bound bolts since the hooks can not be placed on the bolt, and can not be stabilized against a shaft for secure positioning during usage.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,615 to Kenn W. Hundley discloses a complete puller tool that can remove a variety of components such as gears, wheels, harmonic balancers and Pitman arms from their respective shafts. However, the Hundley ""615 device must have space around the component in order to be utilized. Thus, it would not be useful in removing bound bolts from a motor vessel shaft coupling since the bound bolt is encased in the coupling. Additionally, no means for stabilizing the Hundley ""615 device against a motor shaft is provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,404 to Michael Rubino, Michael Berg, and Carol Rubino discloses a pulling tool that can be used to pull a rotor from a motor shaft or a fan from a shaft. However, as in the previous devices, the Rubino, et al ""404 device relies on hooks which are clamped around the object to be pulled. Therefore, this device would not be useful for extracting bound bolts because there would be no way for the hooks to engage the bound bolt. Like the previously discussed devices, no means for stabilizing the device against a shaft during operation is provided.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 256,544 to Grant F. Hintze discloses the ornamental design for a washer spin tube puller. However, the Hintze ""544 device would not be useful for extracting bound bolts since it does not provide any means to engage a bound bolt, and has the additional deficiency of not providing sufficient pressure to extract a bound bolt.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a hand tool for extracting bound bolts that allows the user to safely and easily extract bound, or frozen, bolts from motor vessel shaft couplings. The Hunt ""735, Collison ""400, Condon""074, Hundley ""615, Rubino, et al ""404, and Hintze ""544 patents rely on devices that must be placed around the outer edges of the components to be removed. Additionally, none of the aforementioned devices can be stabilized against a shaft during use, which could lead to potential injury or damage to the device in a fall. Finally, the Hintze ""544 device could not provide the required force to extract a bound bolt.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved hand tool for extracting bolts that can be used to remove bound bolts from motor vessel shaft couplings and other similar places. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the hand tool for extracting bound bolts according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of removing bound bolts from the couplings in which they reside.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of hand tools for extracting bolts now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved hand tool for extracting bolts, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved hand tool for extracting bolts which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a hand tool for extracting bolts which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a dual bolt extractor consisting of a two part, heavy steel main element. The front, or extraction, part has two housings for the bolts that are to be extracted. Above each housing is a passage tube with a stabilization bushing for the extraction rods, which allows free movement of the extraction rods during operation. Four stabilization rods join the front extraction unit to the rear jacking unit. A jacking bolt is attached to the jacking unit to apply pressure to the extraction rods that will transfer this pressure to the bolts which are being extracted.
A second embodiment of this invention uses a hydraulic jack to supply the pressure necessary to extract the bolts. Additionally, the invention could be constructed such that only a single bolt extraction is addressed. This single bolt extractor could be produced with either the jack bolt or the hydraulic jack to supply the necessary pressure on the extraction rods.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include spacers which are placed between the ends of the extraction rods and the bolts to be extracted for further leverage on the bolts. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hand tool for extracting bolts that has all of the advantages of the prior art hand tools for extracting bolts and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hand tool for extracting bolts that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hand tool for extracting bolts that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a hand tool for extracting bolts economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new hand tool for extracting bolts that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a hand tool for extracting bolts for the extraction of bolts from motor vessel shaft couplings, especially in cramped spaces. This allows bound bolts to be removed safely, quickly, and easily, reducing the time, effort, and danger of this task.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hand tool for extracting bolts that could be produced in a hydraulically actuated format.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.